Event #1

Sophie Lamparter presenting.

I decided to attend the art symposium for my first event blog and was fortunate enough to hear two presentations by Sophie Lamparter and Dr. Olivia Osborne.  Both of these lecturers embodied the practice of combining art and science in their presentations, and I was extremely impressed by the ingenuity that their projects involved.  I think that by attending this symposium, I was able to grasp the seemingly abstract idea that art and science are connected by seeing the real-life examples that they had created in their research.

Dr. Olivia Osborne and I outside of the symposium.

In Sophie Lamparter’s presentation, she mentioned a project that really caught my attention because of its futuristic nature.  She introduced a project that her company is working on called the “Science Communication Project” where they are building two greenhouses side by side and creating a unique and separate type of environment within each of them.  The contents of one greenhouse will represent how plants are growing now, and the contents of the other greenhouse will represent how plants will grow in 2058.  This project is hoping to bring to light the extreme environmental issues that we are likely to encounter in the near future unless we severely change our behaviors as a human race.  I thought this was an incredible example of topics we have recently covered in class because it takes the science factor to predict the conditions in 2058 and how plants will be growing, but also turns it into an interactive exhibit where people will be able to walk through and experience the difference themselves.  This sort of staging is definitely characteristic of the artistic field, but in this circumstance, it is aiding these scientists to spread awareness to the population about the reality of climate change.

A painting from Dr. Osborne's "Cry Me a River California" series.

In Olivia Osborne’s lecture, I found that it tied in nicely with Lamparter’s remarks because she spoke a lot about the importance of using art as a vessel for scientific information.  Dr. Osborne related this to her piece named “Cry Me a River, California” which were a series of water color paintings done on canvas that were designed to reference the drought occurring in California.  She used her talents in painting to create a piece that begged the question, “If art can trap water, why can’t we?”  She strategically used her artwork to spread awareness about the drought to a group of people who were not involved with the field of science.  My favorite part about her presentation was when she said that many people are intimidated by science because we, in general, have a lack of curiosity.  I completely agreed with her that scientists can use art as a tool to present their ideas to the general population in a less intimidating manner.  This might inspire a new wave of people to overcome their fear and contribute new ideas and solutions to our worlds’ problems.  I would highly recommend attending the art symposium, because if the rest of the speakers were as engaging as Lamparter and Osborne, I can guarantee you will learn something extremely valuable in terms of this class, but also your life.

References

Osborne, Olivia. Cry Me a River California. 2014. The California Drought Series. Olivia Osborne Art. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.